Decisions for Retirees Approaching Their Sixties

As many people approach their sixties, they begin wondering at what age they should start taking social security. It can be a confusing decision.
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has a good link to download the Social Security Claiming Guide. This document has all the information you need to determine when you should begin taking social security. There are a number of factors to consider including how much you need in retirement income, your age, if married what your options are to take your spouse’s social security, etc.

Decisions also have to mde about Medicare. For information on Medicare, see this site which will link you to the Medicare website as well as other sites for Medicare information.

Retirees approaching social security age should also address other issues also such as whether they have their finances in order and on track to provide income after they retire. They should also make sure they have an updated power of attorney for assets and an updated health care directive. These two documents are critical should you become incapacitated.

If you have a revocable living trust, you should have these documents as part of your revocable living trust package but you should review them periodically to be sure they still express your wishes and that you have named someone you trust as your agent. Health care directives should be reviewed to be sure yours contains a HIPAA release. Some of the older directives or powers of attorney for health care do not contain language about HIPAA. Without a HIPAA release, your agent may have difficulty speaking to your doctors or obtaining your medical information.

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